Kalyaneshwari Temple (Asansol, West Bengal)

Kalyaneshwari is a 500-year-old centre of Shakti worship. Legend has it that human sacrifices were offered at Kalyaneshwari in the remote past. The present temple, however, is not very old and was constructed by Sri Gurudin Prasad Pal. The temple of Goddess Kalyaneshwari is believed to fulfill the wishes of childless women

The temple, located on the banks of Barakar River, is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) downstream from Maithon Dam of Damodar Valley Corporation.

According to history, the Kalyaneshwari temple was built in the 3rd century by the king of Panchkot. It is believed that the foremost structure of this Hindu temple was originally constructed by Maharaja Hari Gupt who was fleeing from the Kushanas in the 3rd century AD. However, the old temple started getting ruined. Later, some five centuries back it was renovated by the king of Panchkot which took him nearly five years to restore the temple completely.

Various myths and legends revolve around the actual origin of this temple. Some believe that the temple was constructed on the site where one of the body parts of Goddess Parvati fell when it was slashed into pieces by Lord Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra while anguished Lord Shiva was carrying her on his shoulder.

Another legend says that once there had been a delay in offering food to the goddess by a priest who used to worship the goddess and perform puja on a regular basis in the temple. The priest left his daughter in the temple and kept some rituals incomplete in order to arrange the Bhog or the Prasad and after his return the priest found the goddess has killed his daughter and accepted to take her as a sacrifice.

The grief-stricken and shocked priest condemned the deity for her thoughtlessness towards his sincere dedication. Realizing the truth, the goddess apologized for her mistake and blessed the priest with another child. It is said that from that time onwards the goddess also promised to bless all the unfruitful ladies who visit this place of worship with their prayers, great devotion and pious mind. Besides this story, some other historical legends also say that this temple was the dwelling place of dacoits in the dense forest. Several years back, those dacoits used to kill humans and offer them to the Goddess as a form of sacrifice.

The villagers strictly observe the sacred ritual of offering animal sacrifice (goat) before or on the day of their son’s or daughter’s marriage without fail to seek the blessings for their child in return.

Places to Visit  Near Kalyaneshwari Temple -Besides the holy nature of the place, it is also a very good sightseeing tourist spot. One can visit the famous Maithon Dam that is very close to the road that leads to the Kalyaneshwari temple.

Maithon Dam – The name “Maithon” is derived from Maithan or commonly known as Mai-Ka-Than (in Hindi) and in Bengali, popularly known as ‘Maa-Er-Than’. The term “sthan” has transformed to “than” due to local pronunciation, which refers to ‘place’. The ‘than’ or place of Mai or Ma or mother, refers to Maa Kalyaneshwari of the famous Kalyaneshwari temple which exists gracefully in the foothill of Maithon Hill.

How to reach

By Road: The temple is situated in Asansol, Bardhaman district of the Indian state of Kolata. It is 181 km from Ranchi, 231 km from Kolkata

By Train – It is quite close to the Barakar railway station

By Air  – The nearest airport is in Andal at a distance of 50 kms.